Anddddddd we’re just about done……..

One. More. Day. Then begins my peanut butter frenzy. Or maybe not. Maybe I will stick with this thing and never eat peanut butter again because I feel so awesome. And maybe I never need to bake again because my body loves itself even more without gluten and sugar. And maybe I will wake up tomorrow and actually be Reese Witherspoon too (people tell me I look like her). All of those are likely to happen scenarios on day 31.
All in all this has not been horrible. I did it without one cheat and without losing my shit completely, and without crying. I made it through the superbowl, two family parties and Valentine’s Day…pretty impressive.
Thoughts overall:
I was not nearly as hungry on this as I imagined. In fact, I wasn’t really ever hungry on this.

The first week was I genuinely missed certain things, things I never imagined I would miss bc I don’t eat them that often…PEANUT BUTTER

By the second week, the longing for sugar, bread and all the things I could not eat was gone, and I was less the salty bitch I was the first week, BUT overall wanting of these foods never went away completely.

I felt great almost the entire time. Keeping in mind though, I did not think I felt that bad before I started this. I was not sluggish, overweight or having digestive issues in the first place. My skin, though, looks amazing…something I have taken out during this 30 days was making my sking tone dark and just not good, and now I look good without any kind of makeup, no concealer under my eyes, nothing! . I did feel slightly less tired this entire month, went to bed with ease by 10pm every night (the man was loving this) and woke up without complaint the entire time though.

The fourth week was actually the hardest for me. I was the crankiest I probably have ever been this last week, and bored with every food item I put in front of me, and outright mad about it. I would’ve rather foregone eating than eat another vegetable and meat at dinner. It wasn’t a craving rage I was in, more like a food boredom rage. I had had it by week four, and wanted to be done thinking about it.

I lost ten pounds total on this, which is nice, but wasn’t the goal of this…but my pants not only button, but are a lil bit loose on me too.

This shit is expensive. I cannot imagine having the means to do this all the time. I am not rich enough for this type of lifestyle…or maybe I am and I just spend my money frivolously on other things, I don’t know. But both of us agreed, this would be difficult to sustain bc of the cost.

I liked cooking every meal we ate. Everything he put in his mouth I made him, and myself too, and I liked that part, even though it was exhausting to be cooking and prepping so much.

Doing something solely for someone else is a good thing. Let me be clear, I would never ever have chosen to do this for myself. Ever. I like a good healthy eating diet as much as the next guy, but this was difficult, time consuming and very restrictive. I did this for him, to support him and help him bc in the end being someone’s biggest cheerleader and supporter is a bigger deal than a donut. I think he would agree that it was a good thing for us being together. We like each other still, after all of this. In fact, I like him enough to work some of this in to our everyday life, where we can eat like this more often than not.

But it’s over, and now we are going to figure out a way to incorporate this into everyday life…right after I eat a few donuts and we hit David Burke’s Primehouse for our post-diet feast that we have been saving ourselves for.
This chili was my favorite thing from the last week. Since legumes are out for the whole30, I used sweet potato in it instead of beans and I loved it. They absorbed the flavors nicely and gave a similar texture to the dish as beans. The addition of cocoa powder I got from a paleo chili recipe I looked at and it deepened the flavor of the chili powder, similar to cocoa in a mole. Everyone loved this and this will be in my dinner rotation probably forever.
Next week…something with gluten in it…and probably a lil bit of sugar…bake time 🙂

Brown the ground beef in a dutch oven or stock pot until no longer pink, adding salt to season. Drain all the fat. Add the bacon fat and continue cooking, add onion and cook until softened. Add the sweet potato and the serrano chili and cook about five more minutes. Add the tomato paste, chili powders, cumin, a little more salt, black pepper and allspice and brown for another five minutes. Slowly add the beef stock, cocoa powder, chopped tomatoes and water. Mix all together and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for at least an hour until thickened and slightly reduced. I simmer this most of the day very low, like maybe three hours. You could also throw it all in the slow cooker on low and simmer all day.